Dark and moody is a way of editing, but before that it’s a way of seeing where the light is. You expose for the brightest part of the picture, usually a face, and let everything else fall away into shadow. The colours go deeper and warmer. Skin stays true. What you’re left with is a photograph that looks lit, rather than just exposed.
It’s the direction my own portraits lean. I’ve even built my own Lightroom presets for it. So this is a practical guide to what the style is, where it works, and where it doesn’t.
Dark and moody or light and airy?
They’re opposite answers to the same question: what do you do with the parts of the picture that aren’t the subject?
Light and airy brightens them. Pale tones, soft shadows, a lot of white. It suits summer, marquees and open countryside.
Dark and moody lets them go. Deep shadows, richer colour, one area of light that your eye goes straight to. It suits old buildings, winter and evenings.
The same wedding dress can look like two different dresses depending which way you go. Most of my galleries sit somewhere between the two, with the portraits leaning darker, and I’ll talk that through with you before the day.
Where it works
- Old buildings with small windows. Livery halls, churches, country house corridors. One window, a dark room, and you’re most of the way there.
- Winter weddings. It’s dark by four in December, which sounds like a problem and is actually a gift.
- Evenings. Candles, fairy lights, a dance floor. Anywhere the light is coming from somewhere specific.
- Portraits. Fifteen or twenty minutes somewhere with strong light and a dark background is where this style shows best.
Where it doesn’t
A white marquee at noon in July. Everything in there is bright and evenly lit, and there’s nowhere for shadow to live. You can darken it in editing, but it looks like what it is: a bright picture made dark. If your wedding is outdoors in high summer, I’d keep the moodier look for the evening and the portraits, and let the daytime be what it was.
How I do it on the day
I find the one window. In most rooms there’s a source of light that’s better than the rest. I put you near it and let the room go dark behind you.
I turn the overhead lights off where the venue lets me. Ceiling lights flatten everything.
I expose for faces. The face is the brightest thing that matters, so that’s what the exposure is for. Everything else can take care of itself.
I use a small flash in the evening, off to one side, for portraits and the dance floor. Never during a ceremony. I’d rather have the room as it actually looked than a version of it lit by me.
In the edit
The style is finished in editing, and the risk there is overdoing it. The things I hold to:
- Skin stays natural. Deep shadows are fine. Grey or orange faces are not.
- Keep detail in the dark. Black is fine in small doses. A picture that’s mostly black is just underexposed.
- One look across the whole gallery. Your getting-ready photos, your ceremony and your first dance should look like the same wedding.
Questions couples ask
Will all my wedding photos be dark?
No. The style is mainly in the portraits and the evening. Group photos and daytime pictures are edited to match, but they’re not made gloomy for the sake of it.
Does dark and moody work for a summer wedding?
For the portraits and the evening, yes. For a bright marquee at midday, less so, and I’d rather tell you that now.
Can I see a full gallery before I book?
Yes. Ask and I’ll send you complete weddings, not just the highlights, so you can see how a whole day looks in this style.
If this is the look you want, have a look at my prices and send me your date. I’ll let you know straight away whether I’m free.
Barrie
